KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil futures rose on Tuesday evening for a second straight session of gains, supported by a weaker ringgit and slight strength in CBOT soyoil futures. Weakness in the ringgit typically boosts demand by making the tropical oil cheaper for holders of foreign currencies.

The ringgit weakened by 0.15 per cent to 3.9540 per dollar at the end of the trading day.

The benchmark palm oil contract for July delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange was up 0.7pc at 2,432 ringgit ($615.07) a tonne at the close of trade.

Palm oil jumped nearly 3 per cent to a one-month high in intraday trade on Monday, the first session of trade since the stunning election defeat of a coalition that ruled the country for six decades. It closed with a gain of 1.5pc.

Trading volume stood at 49,160 lots of 25 tonnes each on Tuesday evening.

“The ringgit was still weak and a positive CBOT soyoil also lent a helping hand,” said a futures trader in Kuala Lumpur.

The market rose despite reports of weaker exports of Malaysian palm oil products on Tuesday, traders said. Exports for May 1-15 fell 14.9pc from a month earlier, said inspection company AmSpec Agri Malaysia.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2018